What if Gabby Goat remained as part of the Looney Tunes franchise?
Gabby Goat is an animated cartoon character created by Bob Clampett for the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes series of cartoons. He was used to be a sidekick to Porky Pig, but was discontinued shorty after appearing on three shorts. Imagine if Gabby Goat remained as part of the Looney Tunes franchise? Well, here's how it would happen. History Background Bob Clampett created Gabby to be a sidekick for Porky Pig in the 1937 short Porky and Gabby, directed by Ub Iwerks, who briefly subcontracted to Leon Schlesinger Productions, producers of the Looney Tunes shorts. The cartoon focuses on the title characters' camping trip, which is foiled by car trouble. Gabby looks like Porky with a beard, horns and scowl. The goat's chief characteristics are his irritability and short temper, traits that make him a natural foil for the shy, easy-going Porky. The concept didn't play out as well as the animators would have liked, however; audiences felt that the goat's behavior was too offensive to be funny. The Beginning of Evolution: 1938-1943 Throughout the first six shorts in the Looney Tunes series (after Get Rich Quick Porky in 1937), Bob Clampett directed the majority of them starring Porky Pig and Gabby Goat together. Tex Avery even put Gabby in a pairing with the screwball Daffy Duck for the first time in the 1939 color Merrie Melodies short, entitled Golfy Goofballs. Many of the early shorts directed by Clampett had Porky and Gabby in different sorts of difficult situations, such as Topsy-Turvy Movers (where they help Petunia move, while dealing with a strict police officer) or Gabby and the Mouse (where Porky and Gabby both work together to get the mouse out of Gabby's home, but both are thwarted by the mouse at the end). One of them had tried to deviate the Porky & Gabby formula, which is indeed Porky's Fox Hunt (where Gabby only makes a cameo at the beginning of the short). By the end of 1939, Clampett grew tired of the quick-to-anger, blabbermouth goat, and threw him over to Friz Freleng (who had recently returned from working on the poorly-received Captain and the Kids series for MGM), which allowed him to fixate and tone down the character. The result of Friz's interpretation of the character led him to be plain grouchy, deadpan, greedy and arrogant, which set the goat character apart from Clampett's intended interpretation of his personality. Starting with A Tangle on the Beach and A Game in Darkest Africa, the audiences believed that the goat's behavior had changed from unfunny to rather clever. Freleng was proud of how these cartoons turned out. He continued to make a few more like Gabby and Daffy and WWII propaganda short, Porky at the Navy, until Chuck Jones stepped in to do his share of the goat with Freleng. Jones' directorial debut with Gabby was in A Goat with a Trout (1942), the first solo Gabby short in the Looney Tunes series to ever be produced in Technicolor. Soon, he would also be featured in several war-themed shorts during World War II. As 1942 came to a close, Frank Tashlin returned to direct a WWII-related Gabby Goat short entitled, What Makes A Goat Steam?, while Jones and Freleng still continued to do their own Gabby shorts. This film is considered to be the final Gabby short produced in black-and-white. Gabby Becomes A Star: 1944-1950 In 1944, Schlesinger gave the Looney Tunes series the full switch to Technicolor. Since then, both series were produced in full color as black and white was no longer used. Gabby had only made three shorts for so far this year (two in the Merrie Melodies series and one in the Looney Tunes series). During that year, Schlesinger went to retirement and sold his studio to Warner Bros., which renamed the company Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc., and Edward Selzer (who by Jones' and Freleng's accounts had no sense of humor or appreciation of cartoons), was appointed by Warner Bros. as the new head of the cartoon studio after Schlesinger retired. Despite the change of producers, Gabby and all the other Looney Tunes characters still had their loyal fans. Tashlin had directed his final cartoon with Gabby, entitled The Sweepstakes Ticket (1945) and left the studio in September 1946 thereafter. A month later, Clampett left the studio. Tashlin's unit was initially taken over by Robert McKimson, who later took over Clampett's unit. And that was when McKimson directed his first Gabby cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, entitled The Masked Goat (1947). For The Masked Goat, Robert McKimson tamed Gabby a bit, redesigning him yet again to be rounder and less elastic. Arthur Davis, who had directed a few Gabby cartoons, such as Beached Goat (1948) and Night-Time Gabby (1949) for a few years in the late 1940s until upper management decreed there should be only three units (McKimson, Friz Freleng, and Jones), presented a Gabby similar to McKimson's. McKimson is noted as the last of the three units to make his Gabby uniform with Jones', with even late shorts, such as Time for Turkey (1958), featuring traits of the "quick-triggered and blabbermouth" Gabby (though not as fast as it was in the late 1930s). Still under construction.... The Rise to His Fame: 1951-1964 While Gabby's quick-triggered temper and blabbermouth days were over, McKimson continued to make him as bad or good as his various roles required him to be. McKimson would use this Gabby from 1946 to 1961. Friz Freleng's version took a hint from Chuck Jones to make the goat more sympathetic, as in the 1957 short Show Biz Bugs. Here, Gabby is over-emotional and jealous of Bugs, yet he has real talent that is ignored by the theater manager and the crowd. This cartoon finishes with a sequence in which Gabby attempts to wow the Bugs-besotted audience with an act in which he drinks gasoline and swallows nitroglycerine, gunpowder, and uranium-238 (in a greenish solution), jumps up and down to "shake well" and finally swallows a lit match that detonates the whole improbable mixture. When Bugs tells Gabby that the audience loves the act and wants more, Gabby, now a ghost floating upward (presumably to Heaven), says that he can only do the act once. Some TV stations, and in the 1990s the cable network TNT, edited out the dangerous act, afraid of imitation by young children. Pairing of Gabby, Daffy and Porky in parodies of popular movies, 1951–1965 While Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck became Warner Bros.' most popular characters, the directors still found ample use for Gabby. Several cartoons place him in parodies of popular movies and radio serials; Porky Pig was usually a comic relief sidekick. In 1958's Robin Hood Gabby, Gabby tried to play as Robin Hood, but in the end of the short, he and Porky had to switch roles. Still under construction.... Pairing of Bugs and Gabby, 1951–1964 Bugs' ascension to stardom also prompted the Warner Bros. animators to recast Gabby as one of the rabbit's recurring antagonist, intensely jealous, insecure and determined to steal back the spotlight, while Bugs either remained cool headed but mildly amused or indifferent to the goat's jealousy or/and used it to his advantage. Gabby was paired with both Bugs and Daffy in three shorts; Rabbit Fire, Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit! Goat!, which he tried to get rid of the two trickters by making Elmer Fudd to shoot them, but backfiring to him. Still under construction.... Gabby's Decline: 1964-1966 When the Warner Bros. animation studio briefly outsourced cartoon production to DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (DFE) in the 1960s, Gabby Goat became an antagonist in several cartoons opposite Speedy Gonzales, who refers to Gabby as "the loco goat." In Well Worn Gabby (1965), Gabby is determined to keep the mice away from a desperately needed well seemingly for no other motive than pure maliciousness. Furthermore, when he draws all the water he wants, Gabby then attempts to destroy the well in spite of the vicious pointlessness of the act, forcing Speedy to stop him. The Warner Bros. studio was entering its twilight years, and even Gabby had to stretch for humor in the period. In many of the later DFE cartoons, such as Goatee Finger and Gabby's Diner, Gabby is portrayed as a more sympathetic character (often forced to turn against Speedy at the behest of a common enemy, mainly either Sylvester or the rare greedy version of Daffy Duck) rather than the full-blown villain he is in cartoons like Well Worn Gabby and Assault and Scapegoated. The last cartoon featuring Gabby and Speedy is See Ya Later Gladiator, in what animation fans call the worst cartoon made by Warner Bros. The Absence of a Goat: 1967-1975 After the short, See Ya Later Gladiator, however, Gabby seemingly disappeared from the animation scene entirely. Despite his disappearance from further animated appearances prior to 1976, he still continued to appear in merchandise and TV shows (but only in the syndication package of older theatrical shorts). The Goat Comes Back: 1976-present In the mid-1970s, following the success of other prime-time television specials, such as the ones based on the popular comic strip Peanuts, network programmers were finally convinced to give the Warner Bros. animated characters another chance in prime time. The result was Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals, which also inspired to give Gabby Goat a big comeback with his fellow partner, Porky Pig. Still under construction.... Shorts Looney Tunes *''Romantic Sabotage'' (1938) - directed by Bob Clampett - When Gabby learns that Porky has a date with Petunia to a restaurant instead of playing baseball, he plays tricks on them. First appearance of the redesigned Petunia Pig, predating Porky's Picnic. *''Porky's Party'' (1938) - directed by Bob Clampett - Porky prepares for his birthday party, but antics ensue. *''Crow Trouble'' (1938) - directed by Bob Clampett - Gabby has crows in his garden. As Porky approaches Gabby (acting like The Hunchback of Notre Dame), he actually attacks him, tying him up as a scarecrow as a result to actually scare the crows off. *''Topsy-Turvy Movers'' (1939) - directed by Bob Clampett - Porky and Gabby help Petunia move. Unfortunately, they start by running into a police car, and keep running afoul of the officer. *''Porky's Fox Hunt'' (1939) - directed by Bob Clampett - A comic running-of-the-fox with Porky atop a reluctant horse against a smarter-than-usual fox. Gabby makes a cameo at the beginning of the cartoon. *''Gabby and the Mouse'' (1939) - directed by Bob Clampett - Gabby tries to get rid of a mouse pestering him in his home. Realizing after the first few attempts, he calls in mouse exterminator Porky Pig to help him on the situation. Final Gabby cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. *''A Tangle on the Beach'' (1940) - directed by Friz Freleng - Gabby is trying to have a relaxing day at the beach, but is continuously tortured by sea creatures. First Gabby cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. *''Gabby and Daffy'' (1940) - directed by Friz Freleng - A tired Gabby is once again bothered by a screwball Daffy Duck as his neighbor, when all he wants is some peace and quiet. *''Porky at the Navy'' (1941) - directed by Friz Freleng - Porky and Gabby both work as sailors at the Navy. *''Stop the Goat Presses'' (1942) - directed by Friz Freleng - Reporter Gabby seeks out a big story to appease his boss. *''Pastry Troubles'' (1942) - directed by Friz Freleng - Gabby is a baker at a bakery who is making pastries, until a fly comes to torture him. *''A Goat with a Trout'' (1942) - directed by Chuck Jones - Gabby tries to fish in the lake on a boat, but with disastrous results. Gabby's first solo short in the Looney Tunes series and the first one to be produced in color. First Gabby short directed by Chuck Jones. *''Goatin' Off To War'' (1943) - directed by Friz Freleng - Gabby has been drafted to the Army. *''Two Troublesome Mice'' (1943) - directed by Chuck Jones - Two mice try to get a piece of cheese from the kitchen counter through various attempts, but every one of them are foiled by Gabby Goat. At the end, the mice gets Gabby in trouble with a bulldog. Produced in Technicolor. *''The Rational Goat'' (1943) - directed by Friz Freleng - Gabby is planning a victory garden, while a gopher attempts to steal all of his fruits and vegetables. *''What Makes a Goat Steam?'' (1943) - directed by Frank Tashlin - Final Gabby short produced in black-and-white. All future Gabby shorts in the Looney Tunes series, like all the other Looney Tunes characters, would be produced in color. First Gabby short directed by Frank Tashlin. *''Gabby's Squirrel Trouble'' (1944) - directed by Chuck Jones - A snack-hungry squirrel comes out and steals a bowl of nuts from Gabby, while he is relaxing outside. *''The Sweepstakes Ticket'' (1945) - directed by Frank Tashlin - Gabby loses his ticket after he wins first prize in a sweepstakes, and tries to get it back. Second and final Gabby short directed by Frank Tashlin. *''TBA'' (1945) - *''TBA'' (1946) - *''TBA'' (1946) - *''TBA'' (1947) - directed by Chuck Jones - First pairing of Gabby Goat with Hubie and Bertie. *''TBA'' (1948) - *''TBA'' (1948) - *''Goat Cooned'' (1949) - directed by Robert McKimson - A raccoon enters Gabby's home to attempt raiding his refrigerator and eating all of his food. before Gabby comes back with a gun to scare off the sneaky raccoon. *''TBA'' (1950) - *''TBA'' (1950) - *''TBA'' (1951) - *''TBA'' (1952) - *''TBA'' (1952) - *''TBA'' (1953) - *''TBA'' (1954) - *''TBA'' (1954) - *''TBA'' (1955) - *''TBA'' (1956) - *''TBA'' (1956) - *''Dizzy Waiters'' (1957) - directed by Robert McKimson - Both Porky and Gabby work as waiters of a five-star restaurant establishment fixing and serving meals to customers, while cook Pete Puma deals with Hubie and Bertie in the pancake mix. A remake of the 1942 short, Porky's Cafe, but with newly updated scenes replacing the old ones. *''Doing Time'' (1957) - directed by Friz Freleng - During a routine driving exam, Daffy gets into an accident at the rest home. Gabby Goat, being the driving instructor is responsible for the accident and is taken into custody. In prison, Gabby Goat starts to value his time at the jail, being away from everyday complications in his life, including teaching at the DMV, but gets feared when a guilty Daffy Duck tries to make him escape. Then, Gabby Goat after being at the jail for a short time, goes through repeated cycles of the accident and realizes its possibly his imagination. *''TBA'' (1957) - *''TBA'' (1958) - *''TBA'' (1958) - *''TBA'' (1958) - *''TBA'' (1958) - *''TBA'' (1959) - *''TBA'' (1959) - *''TBA'' (1959) - *''TBA'' (1960) - *''TBA'' (1960) - *''TBA'' (1961) - *''TBA'' (1962) - *''TBA'' (1962) - *''TBA'' (1963) - *''TBA'' (1963) - *''TBA'' (1963) - *''TBA'' (1964) - Merrie Melodies *''Golfy Goofballs'' (1939) - directed by Tex Avery - Gabby Goat is enjoying a peaceful day playing golf until a screwy Daffy Duck comes in to ruin his day. First pairing of Daffy Duck and Gabby Goat, and Gabby's first appearance in color. *''A Game in Darkest Africa'' (1940) - directed by Friz Freleng - Gabby Goat goes hunting on a big game in darkest Africa. Gabby's first solo short in the Merrie Melodies series. *TBA (1941) - *TBA (1942) - *TBA (1943) - *TBA (1944) - *TBA (1944) - *TBA (1945) - *TBA (1946) - *TBA (1946) - *''The Masked Goat'' (1947) - directed by Robert McKimson - Gabby wants to star in a more serious type of picture, and explains it to the producer throughout the whole short with some imaginative scenes. First Gabby cartoon directed by Robert McKimson. Alternate version of Chuck Jones's short The Scarlet Pumpernickel. *TBA (1947) - *TBA (1947) - *TBA (1949) - *TBA (1950) - *TBA (1950) - *TBA (1951) - *TBA (1952) - *TBA (1952) - *TBA (1953) - *TBA (1954) - *TBA (1954) - *TBA (1955) - *TBA (1955) - *TBA (1956) - *TBA (1956) - *TBA (1957) - *''Goat on Duty'' (1957) - directed by Friz Freleng - Yosemite Sam puts Gabby Goat in charge of his missiles during the Cold War. *TBA (1958) - *TBA (1959) - *TBA (1959) - *TBA (1960) - *TBA (1960) - *TBA (1960) - *TBA (1961) - *TBA (1961) - *TBA (1962) - *TBA (1962) - *TBA (1962) - *TBA (1962) - *TBA (1962) - *TBA (1963) - *TBA (1963) - *TBA (1963) - *TBA (1964) - *TBA (1964) - *TBA (1964) - Final cartoon produced at Warner Bros. Cartoons. *TBA (1964) - First cartoon produced at DePatie-Freleng. *TBA (1965) - *TBA (1965) - *TBA (1965) - *TBA (1965) - *TBA (1966) - *TBA (1966) - *TBA (1966) - Final cartoon produced at DePatie-Freleng. Television shows *''The Bugs Bunny Show'' *''Tiny Toon Adventures'' *''Animaniacs'' (makes an appearance only in the episode, The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special) *''The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries'' *''Baby Looney Tunes'' (appears as one of the main characters introduced in the second season) *''Loonatics Unleashed'' *''The Looney Tunes Show'' (appears as one of the main characters, as well as Porky's roommate) *''Wabbit''/''New Looney Tunes'' Specials Original specials * Carnival of the Animals (1976, retitled "Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals") * A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court (1978, retitled "Bugs Bunny in King Arthur's Court") * Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979) * Daffy Duck's Easter Special (1980, retitled "Daffy Duck's Easter EGG-citment") * Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over (1980) * An Ounce of Prevention (1982) Specials with reused footage * Bugs Bunny's Easter Special (1977, retitled "Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies") * Bugs Bunny in Space (1977) * Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special (1977) * How Bugs Bunny Won the West (1978) * Bugs Bunny's Valentine (1979, retitled "Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers") * The Bugs Bunny Mother's Day Special (1979) * Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet (1979) * The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special (1980) * Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special (1980) * Bugs Bunny: All American Hero (1981) * Bugs Bunny's Mad World of Television (1982) * Bugs vs. Daffy: Battle of the Music Video Stars (1988) * Bugs Bunny's Wild World of Sports (1989) * Bugs Bunny's Overtures to Disaster (1991) * Bugs Bunny's Creature Features (1992) * Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes (1992) Tropes See /Tropes Trivia * Since his first appearance, Gabby begin appearing in 860 shorts and started to become popular with the audiences as his character was developed even further, now being considered as a "Warner Bros. counterpart to Donald Duck". Over the years, Gabby eclipsed Porky in popularity, until he had been supplanted first by Daffy Duck, and later by Bugs Bunny, leading him to pairing with Bugs in several shorts and with Daffy in many shorts. * Over the years, Gabby's annoying motor mouth and quick trigger-temper started to die down in the late 1930's and was reduced to being plain grouchy, deadpan, greedy and arrogant by the early 1940's (thanks to directors Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng). ** Both Jones and Freleng used Gabby Goat more frequently than all of the other directors. McKimson, however, did get to direct some Gabby cartoons during that time, starting in 1947. ** Art Davis had directed a few shorts featuring Gabby Goat in the late 40s, before his separate unit was dissolved. * As 1939 came to a close, Clampett turned the character over to Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng, after directing a few shorts with him in the Looney Tunes series during the late 30's output. This resulted in both Jones and Freleng to tone down the character. Friz Freleng, however, was the first to try out that character during the early 40's. Chuck Jones came in as second to use Gabby, starting around 1942's A Goat with a Trout, produced in Technicolor. * Gabby Goat's first foray into Technicolor was the Merrie Melodies short, Golfy Goofballs (1939) in a pairing with the screwball Daffy Duck. It was the only Gabby Goat short directed by Tex Avery. * During the 1964-66 cartoons produced by DePatie-Freleng, Gabby Goat is mostly paired up with Speedy Gonzales and the creative stories in the theatrical shorts started to run dry. * Gabby Goat was absent from almost all the 1964-69 shorts (the ones produced by DePatie-Freleng and WB-Seven Arts), before his return on a few of the compilation films from the late 1970s to the late 1980s and on Tiny Toon Adventures. * Gabby was redesigned with a hoodie sweater for Wabbit/New Looney Tunes. Gallery gabby_goat.png Category:Looney Tunes Category:Alternate reality